I usually swim straight sets, as in go to the pool and swim 2500 yards and get out. This week I started doing intervals. I use a Garmin 935 to track things.
I noticed during my swim that it didnt matter how fast or slow I went, Garmin just estimates 4 calories per 25 yards. I thought this was because I swam the same pace. But in this case, I did intervals over 3300 yards. My 50’s in the beginning were around 1:53/100 yard but at the end, they were down to 2:06/100 yard - yet the calories were estimated the same. Also, stroke count and length were identical.
I can figure out my caloric needs for fuel and recovery on runs and rides, but trying to figure them out on the swim.
Total, I swam 3300 yards in 1:21 hours, with 1:09 in actual swim time. This was also my longest swim ever so dont judge me for being slow. How many calories did I likely burn? Garmin says 528cals, with zero calories during rests (avg 15 seconds).
My weight is 135 pounds - 6ft Male.
Thanks
P.S. Here is is 10 hours later and there is no limit to what I could eat right now. It’s miserable.
About 1100 or so per hour it would appear. I would say that sounds a bit high. I’d guess around 600 - 700m if you are smashing yourself, nearer to 500 or so if just cruising, so your Garmin might not be too far off. Depends on your effort.
I usually swim straight sets, as in go to the pool and swim 2500 yards and get out. This week I started doing intervals. I use a Garmin 935 to track things.
I noticed during my swim that it didnt matter how fast or slow I went, Garmin just estimates 4 calories per 25 yards. I thought this was because I swam the same pace. But in this case, I did intervals over 3300 yards. My 50’s in the beginning were around 1:53/100 yard but at the end, they were down to 2:06/100 yard - yet the calories were estimated the same. Also, stroke count and length were identical.
I can figure out my caloric needs for fuel and recovery on runs and rides, but trying to figure them out on the swim.
Total, I swam 3300 yards in 1:21 hours, with 1:09 in actual swim time. This was also my longest swim ever so dont judge me for being slow. How many calories did I likely burn? Garmin says 528cals, with zero calories during rests (avg 15 seconds).
My weight is 135 pounds - 6ft Male.
Thanks
P.S. Here is is 10 hours later and there is no limit to what I could eat right now. It’s miserable.
We’ve had this discussion multiple times on this forum over the past 5-6 yrs, and opinions vary widely. Personally, i think your Garmin estimate is a bit low and, assuming that was your only, or main, workout today, I’d say your hunger is telling you that you burned more than 528 cal. I’m a bit bigger than you (6’1.5" and 175) and i estimate my cals at 250 per 1000 yd; I would think at 135 you’d be around 200 cal per 1000 yd, so 660 for 3300 yd. However, I really think your hunger is the best indicator of how much you need to eat, espec for someone like you whom i’d guess is 4-5% body fat and hence really can’t afford to lose much weight at all. So, eat what you feel you need to but just keep an eye on the scale.
Yeah watch-based caloric calculators tend to not be very good.
For roughest rule of thumb, I’ve always remembered these (I think they’re Slowman’s) estimates:
Swim: 400 cal/mile
Bike: 40 cal/mile
Run: 100 cal/mile
There is no way this is even close to being correct.
400 cal/mile for swim? So a 5k swim is 1200 calories?!! No way!!!
40cal per mile on the bike. If I go 20mph for 1 hr, then you saying I burned 800?? My power meter that measures calories burned has that at 550 calories. Again, over estimating there.
The run calories seem too low. At 170, calculators say 135/mile but I just go with 120.
To the OP, at your weight, I would go with
150cal per 1000m swim
500 per hour bike
100/mile run.
6’0†and 135 is scary low. Eat something for God’s sake!
I generally take two thirds of what my garmin says. Except on the bike where I have a PM which is supposed to be more accurate.
My swims are in the region of an hour to hour 15. Always intervals of some sort with longest 400m intervals. Total distance about 3200 - 4000m. Garmin usually says between 950 - 1100.
The METS calculation on BrianMac.com linked above says 620 which is close to what I take.
Thanks for the info. I ate 2700 calories yesterday and that swim was my only activity. I was down a pound this morning… So at least I didn’t over eat. But, for the 1st 4 miles of my 7 mile fasted run this morning my heart rate was 165, before normalizing at 133.
I generally take two thirds of what my garmin says. Except on the bike where I have a PM which is supposed to be more accurate.
My swims are in the region of an hour to hour 15. Always intervals of some sort with longest 400m intervals. Total distance about 3200 - 4000m. Garmin usually says between 950 - 1100.
The METS calculation on BrianMac.com linked above says 620 which is close to what I take.
How much do you weigh? Does the Garmin take weight into consid for swimming? Calculating on a per 1000 yd basis, your numbers come out at about 257 cal/1000 yd, which is more or less the same as my guesstimate of 250 cal/1000 yd. I’m 6’1.5" and about 175 lb.
Thanks for the info. I ate 2700 calories yesterday and that swim was my only activity. I was down a pound this morning… So at least I didn’t over eat. But, for the 1st 4 miles of my 7 mile fasted run this morning my heart rate was 165, before normalizing at 133.
How many cal would you eat on a total rest day, maybe 2000??? Have you ever had your resting metabolic rate (RMR) measured??? They put a clamp on your nose and you sit quietly, breath in and out of your mouth, and the machine measures the O2 in vs out and calculates how many cals you’re burning while sitting quietly. Pretty cool and pretty accurate AFAIK.
Also, do you think your HR was elevated during first 4 miles b/c you were a little tired from your longest-ever swim???
Thanks for the info. I ate 2700 calories yesterday and that swim was my only activity. I was down a pound this morning… So at least I didn’t over eat. But, for the 1st 4 miles of my 7 mile fasted run this morning my heart rate was 165, before normalizing at 133.
How many cal would you eat on a total rest day, maybe 2000??? Have you ever had your resting metabolic rate (RMR) measured??? They put a clamp on your nose and you sit quietly, breath in and out of your mouth, and the machine measures the O2 in vs out and calculates how many cals you’re burning while sitting quietly. Pretty cool and pretty accurate AFAIK.
Also, do you think your HR was elevated during first 4 miles b/c you were a little tired from your longest-ever swim???
Dude… This RMR test sounds amazing. That’s the most exciting thing I ever heard of. I have just been going off estimates. Im gonna see if I can find a place to get this done.
I think my HR must have been elevated from the swim, but I was wondering if it was possibly not eating enough to recover from the swim since the swim was 24 hours prior to the run. But yes, I figure 2100 calories on rest days.
Thanks for the info. I ate 2700 calories yesterday and that swim was my only activity. I was down a pound this morning… So at least I didn’t over eat. But, for the 1st 4 miles of my 7 mile fasted run this morning my heart rate was 165, before normalizing at 133.
How many cal would you eat on a total rest day, maybe 2000??? Have you ever had your resting metabolic rate (RMR) measured??? They put a clamp on your nose and you sit quietly, breath in and out of your mouth, and the machine measures the O2 in vs out and calculates how many cals you’re burning while sitting quietly. Pretty cool and pretty accurate AFAIK.
Also, do you think your HR was elevated during first 4 miles b/c you were a little tired from your longest-ever swim???
Dude… This RMR test sounds amazing. That’s the most exciting thing I ever heard of. I have just been going off estimates. Im gonna see if I can find a place to get this done.
I think my HR must have been elevated from the swim, but I was wondering if it was possibly not eating enough to recover from the swim since the swim was 24 hours prior to the run. But yes, I figure 2100 calories on rest days.
Ya, the RMR test is quite useful; I had mine done at the gym/pool I was going to at the time, about 5 yrs ago. I don’t think all gyms can do it but you should be able to find a gym or health clinic that can do it w/o too much difficulty. Regarding the not eating enough causing the HR to be higher, maybe but my experience has usually been the opposite, i.e. when I haven’t eaten enough, I just can not get my effort level, and hence HR, up to its normal level. Who knows though…HR can be affected by lots of things and that was just one run…you can see what happens in future runs after swims.
Swimming can vary a lot because there’s a lot more resistance when you swim fast, and you use more calories when you swim inefficiently. 300-400 calories per mile is a good starting point. I usually figure 300 calories per 1500 yards freestyle.
